Tomato Tart with Cashew Ricotta (From The Complete Plant Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen)

The Complete Plant Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen does a great job of showing how to incorporate vegan or dairy products into a recipe by listing both the vegan product and the dairy product in a recipe. I really like this because it provides flexibility to a larger audience. The tomato tart with cashew ricotta is one of these recipes. It lists cashew ricotta or dairy ricotta and vegan parmesan or dairy parmesan as two of the ingredients. The rest of the ingredients are vegan. I decided to make this with non-dairy alternatives.

I started by making the pastry crust and chilling that in the fridge. It called for flour, sugar, salt, coconut oil, and water. When I started to bake the pastry, I started to prepare the other ingredients. I sliced tomatoes, laid those on paper towels, and sprinkled them with salt. I minced garlic (recipe calls for 1 clove, but 1 used 4 small ones), chopped artichoke hearts, grated lemon zest, and chopped basil. I also prepared a homemade version of cashew ricotta and vegan parmesan. After the pastry was blind baked, I filled it with a layer of cashew ricotta, vegan parmesan, artichoke hearts, and salt. I layered my tomatoes on top. I drizzled that with oil that I added my minced garlic to and I baked that in the oven for about 20 minutes. Just before serving, I sprinkled it with the chopped basil.

This recipe does take a while to come together because you have to make the pastry for the tart shell. It requires you to make the pastry, chill the pastry, and blind bake the pastry before filling it. I am glad I made this recipe to try out the pastry and the recipe as a whole, but I think it is important to note that it did take over two hours to make (between chilling and baking time). If you are going to make this. I would suggest making the pastry, cashew ricotta, and parmesan substitute ahead of time to help ease the preparation.

I liked how the tart came together, but I do have a few critiques for next time. I would like to work on the pastry. I felt that my pastry came out too soft and the bottom got soggy. I would like to have seen a crispy crust. I think this could have been because I under baked it. I also think the layer with the cashew ricotta, vegan parmesan, and artichoke hearts should have been creamier. I could have made more ricotta or less vegan parmesan and I think that would have helped the balance.

I really love eating tarts! They are fun to put together. They are a little involved, but I like how much care that you need to put into them. I am going to try this recipe again and try to make it a little better.

Taste: 8/10

Notes for next time: A few improvements are needed.